The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Withdraw all permissions to Anrak, Jindal: CPI (M)

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Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Withdraw all permissions to Anrak, Jindal: CPI (M)

Special Correspondent

Consent of grama sabhas is a must, say party leaders

VISAKHAPATNAM: CPI (M) has urged the authorities to withdraw all the permissions given to Anrak Aluminium Ltd and Jindal South West Aluminium Ltd in the light of ruling given by a committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in the case of Vedanta project.

CPI (M) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao and district secretariat member A. Balakrishna at a press conference here on Tuesday took strong exception to the recent GO issued declaring a minor port at Rajayyapeta in Nakkapali mandal and giving permission to Anrak to develop a captive jetty in the area.

Irregularities

“There are lot of irregularities in the sanction given to Anrak to build a captive jetty in the area used for fishing by several poor fishermen. Hence, we want revocation of all permissions till environmental aspects involving bauxite mining and alumina refineries are cleared,” Mr. Narsinga Rao said.

Committee report

A committee headed by Planning Commission member N.C. Saxena and others, which was appointed by the MoEF, gave its report asking the government to stop all works of Vedanta's alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa's Kalahandi district until rights of forest dwellers were recognised as per the Forest Rights Act.

It said the consent of grama sabhas was a must and the livelihood of tribals should not be disturbed for the sake of benefiting a private company. Vedanta has plans for investment of projects worth Rs. 50,000 crores in Orissa.

‘Stage-managed'

Mr. Narsinga Rao said public hearings for bauxite mining projects in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts were ‘stage-managed' and despite overwhelming opposition to the projects, the consent of the MoEF was obtained due to political pressure.

He said only after a proper environmental impact assessment, enforcement of Forest Rights Act and holding of grama sabhas to secure consent of the affected communities, the projects should be given ‘go-ahead' signal.

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